Back then there were still some buildings standing with shrapnel damage from the Blitz or looked like they were once part of a bigger building and damaged areas were removed.

My dad sometimes took me to the wood where a bomb crater had been left to become a pond because It was a great place for collecting frog spawn and seeing other wildlife. Not a lot of people wanted to get that close to the crater so the frogs, toads and newts would thrive.

A lot of “four in a block” temporary houses were built for the refugees from the bombings to live in that are still standing to this day. Including two of my childhood homes. They weren’t supposed to last 50 years let alone 70!

My mum was often worried about me and my sister getting sick from the cold, structural damp and mould but I was more scared by the giant spiders that could only be killed with the vacuum cleaner because they were too big to swat or put in a cup and throw outside. Lol.

The Blitz certainly affected a lot of folks in unexpected ways for years afterwards. The town has never fully recovered and it has created a slightly different world view and culture compared to that of nearby Glasgow. The residents there are jittery and nervous around those they don’t know through someone else. Maybe they think all outsiders are secret German, Italian or English invaders coming back for another raid? I dunno. Never made any sense to me.

The Clydebank Blitz has had many articles written about it and a few TV documentaries have been made that are on Youtube. There’s also the Liverpool Blitz which I have to walk past the remnants of on a regular basis since what is locally known as the “Bombed Out Church” is on my route to and from College.

I’ve probably walked past where I’ve known someone has died over a million times already. In fact in the UK, knowing is something you can’t escape. Every day you see flowers at a spot in the road where someone was killed, you can pay money to go on tours to find out how people died in public places, memorial plates and stones are everywhere telling you when and how someone passed away.

Guess there is less of a taboo or fear of death as there is of dead bodies, here. Maybe something to do with Spanish Flu and the Black Death?